“RIM doesn’t have a competitive smartphone now, nor will it have one any time in the near future” — Editorial from a BlackBerry Addicted Engadget Editor

There is a really good editorial over on Engadget by tech editor Joanna Stern. I recently damaged my BlackBerry Storm and found myself in almost exactly the same situation. I wanted to buy a new BlackBerry, however, no BlackBerry exists that does all the things that, going by today’s standards, smartphones should do.

Check out “RIM seems to be as lost as my BlackBerry”… It truly is a good read.

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Many have been saying this for the better part of a year. Finally, even the BB fan boys are starting to see it. RIM’s days in the consumer market are limited and all that will be left is big biz and government.

gquaglia…I’ve read a bunch of stories on this site, and you always seem to leave a comment bashing RIM. I don’t get it, if you’re happy with another phone, why bother reading this site and wasting your time, what do you get out of it?

Anthony…its not bashing if your speaking the truth even when it hurts. Qquaglia is probably just like every other BB fan out there exhibiting their frustration at the pathetic excuse that RIM countinues to call a “smartphone”. We just want a BB that is on par with the rest of the smartphone world.

Actually….I feel the exact same way. Been using a BB for years….come to this site for news and updates…..and there’s basically nothing. Still using my Bold 9000, but see no compelling reason right now to stick with a BB.

Already have a wonderful Ipad….not interested in their tablet thing. They missed that boat. RIM needs to get ahead of the curve soon.

I recently bought a Torch to replace a landline. The research I did before that purchase convinced me that smartphones are not nearly as innovative or as useful as we are meant to think.

Sure, they can play music and video, if that it to your liking. But most of the other non-telephone capabilities have been available in PDA’s for years. Indeed, in handheld PC’s marketed during the heyday of DOS.

I’ve perused Apple’s and Android’s app markets. Sure, Blackberry’s market is pretty small in comparison. But, when I eliminate games (not interested), music apps (not interested) and apps that are essentially encapsulated browser bookmarks, the numbers dramatically shrink. A smartphone is essentially a mini-computer. I want software that leverages that so I can do something useful.

A wireless phone is a radio, and I search high and low, unsuccessfully, looking for reviews that offered a technically literate assessment of that aspect. I especially wanted sensitivity measurements, i.e., the phone’s ability to work with weak signals. That measurement is expected in reviews of other serious radios, and seems to me the single most important piece of information about a wireless phone. Yet, I’ve never seen it reported, anywhere.

Of course, here in the U.S. the fact that phones are tied to carriers means real innovation will be slow in coming. Carriers are interested in increasing revenues by selling people capabilities that require heavy bandwidth use, since bandwidth is what they sell. Software that exploits the phone’s computing capabilities, and needing no or very little bandwidth, won’t be championed by the likes of ATT and Verizon.

On RIM: I’d be willing to bet that all current RIM phones, excepting the Torch, get an OS 6 revamp, and then that will be the end of Blackberry OS phones. RIM had no reason to buy QNX and TAT if it did not intend to redesign and remarket its product line. You don’t need the capabilities of QNX if you intend to stick with OS ^. You don’t need TAT if all you want to do is mimic Apple’s design.

I think an analogy can be drawn between RIM today and Apple about one year before it brought out OS X. At that time, Apple was burdened with a range of slow hardware running an outmoded operating system. Many predicted bad things and wondered if Apple’s days were numbered. The adoption of OS X (a Unix flavor, as is QNX in many respects) and the later adoption of faster Intel chips gave Apple the demonstably better tools that Jobs has been able to sell. If RIM makes the right choices, it will be in a remarkably similar position.

This editorial is a joke. She complains about being always slower than other smartphone but she had a 8330!! No 3G, low resolution screen.. the 9700, 9800 or 9780 would have been an improvement. What I don’t get is how a tech editor can still be using an 8330.. When I look at the iPhone it’s only one form factor that I don’t like.
When I look at Android there are more form factors but reviews always rave about the iPhone clone design. The blogging community has became the new TV. Internet was so much better before blogging..

While I agree there’s a certain amount of ridiculous premise (a 3+ year old Curve? come on…), the primary thrust of the article is spot on.

I’m a HUGE BlackBerry fan (I carry two 24/7), but honestly there isn’t a single BlackBerry smartphone on the market right now that I would spend MY money to buy. Not one. That is probably the first time I’ve been able to say that in many years. RIM dropped the ball on device development 2+ years ago, and are paying the price now. Sure, they are growing device sales, but that’s more by dumping previous generations of devices on international markets that innovating with up to date models.

Well as the premise is a joke this make the whole thing a joke. This is a huge tech blog. But this is just a blog. I mean it’s all about posting your thought and whitout much analysis in this case. And no metion is made how she chose her new droid. So I assume there was no analysis either.

@lostOzone: “When I look at the iPhone it’s only one form factor that I don’t like.”

I find the iPhone awkward to hold in my hand, almost slippery. From my point of view, it would benefit from being thicker and having a grippier back. Other than that, and other than its reception problems, it’s a fine phone.

Part of the problem with reviews of and commentary on phones in blogs, by amateurs and people paid to write, is tht we know little or nothing about their qualifications. Most reviews I read are elaborations on “This sucks!” or “OMG! Its great!”. Far too many pieces are just completely uncritical and wholely biased cheerleading exercises boosting iPhones or Androids.

I guess you could try to use a rubber type case this should avoid slilppery.
About blogs and review this is very strange when there is no word about battery life. And I mean serious test. I have nothing against preview but a review should tell about the battery life with different profiles (pushmail always on, heavy, light use) or at least the reviewer should tell us his profile. Then I have don’t understand why sunlight readability is almost never covered.